


Polyphasic Sleep

by Cinnp



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-08
Updated: 2013-08-08
Packaged: 2017-12-22 19:25:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/917125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinnp/pseuds/Cinnp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s exhausted, Erwin knows, yet he still fronts the strongest face he’s ever seen. He’ll never know why because Levi will never tell, so he can only do his best to remind the shorter man to breathe as all humans do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Polyphasic Sleep

They make a lot of sacrifices in their line of work. It’s a fact that all soldiers come to terms with sooner or later; most of them can never have families, or at least, they shouldn’t try to have families — they spend every day sore, hungry, and at constant risk of death. Erwin has been in this so long he’s forgotten how else people can live. He vaguely remembers his mother’s tears when he parted on that fateful summer day. He had only been twelve then and more than a decade he had lived this way, the greater part of his life dedicated to Humanity’s struggle. 

He sometimes thinks about how different his life might have been if he had never enlisted, but those thoughts aren’t very useful to the commander of thousands of men and women and children. He doesn’t regret his choice by any means — he might have, he supposes, had it not been for Levi. Levi, to him and to humanity as a whole, is a gift. Without him, his purpose would be standing on shaking beams instead of a sound foundation. He is, simply and aptly, mankind’s greatest asset and greatest weapon. He’s a hundred men in one, but he is not a soldier.

Levi resents the title with every fiber of his being. He doesn’t take pride in his uniform the way Erwin does, but he can play a part for the public; Erwin’s thankful for that. Humanity’s never done any great service to the younger man, he is well aware, but he fights regardless for their sake. Levi is an angel. Not the kind from the religious scriptures floating around, but the kind his grandmother told his mother about — saviors sent from a force much greater than any god that the preacher’s speak of these days. Though it’s easy to mistake the brunette for a monster, he actually the most selfless person Erwin knows.

He’s a bird who’s smart enough to slip out of any cage that men can manufacture yet, by choice, he remains where he is. Erwin doesn’t believe him when he says he does it for him, but Levi often asserts that if he were to leave the military in dishonor and cowardice he’d be no more than a step behind. Levi’s pride is all he had when they met, and all he really has since the end of his squad, but he’s willing to throw that away for Erwin. 

Even if it would damn humanity to bits, he’d follow.

That sort of power scares Erwin a bit, but drives him all the more to move forward with their fight. He wants a future where his mourning dove can fly far without danger and return to him — he lost his faith in humanity a great many years ago, but he has faith in Levi; and Levi has faith in him. That’s all that they need, and humans benefit from this union.

Levi is as indestructible as a mortal man can be, but even he has his limits. 

Erwin has gotten used to him not sleeping for a solid hour even. Whenever they go to bed together he can feel the other get up and come back several times. Levi sleeps in twenty minute intervals, amounting to less than two or three hours of sleep a night which he claims is plenty for him, but Erwin worries. It’s a rarity for Levi to sleep if Erwin’s not already asleep because he enjoys his inhuman image. He’s a pillar of strength for everyone in their world, Erwin included; but on occasion, the blonde will catch him dozing off in his office or asleep beneath the laundry he had just hung.

But then Levi gets hurt and Erwin refuses to let him out of bed.

"I can walk," Levi insists, but Erwin listens to none of it. He guards his pillar with his life, making sure that his damaged legs don’t touch the ground for any reason — even if it means lifting him up so he can dust a shelf or two so he doesn’t go insane. 

Levi can walk, Erwin is sure, but that doesn’t mean he should. He’s the sort of man who would give his last bit of food to someone he thought deserved it, even if they didn’t need it as much as him. He’s the sort of person who brushes off broken bones as scratches, and he’s the sort of person who doesn’t believe in rest.

"Please," Erwin implores, hands on the frigid shoulders of the disheveled brunette.

"I’ve had worse."

That hurts. He hates to think about what Levi went through in his youth while he was going to school and living comfortably. Of course, Erwin didn’t ask to be born into a good life, but being entitled feels like a crime when he’s with the ex-criminal. They’ve never spoken about his childhood beyond Sunday afternoon vignettes that Levi occasionally spits out when he’s feeling nostalgic, but Erwin is not a stupid man. He has seen and done much more in his life time than anyone ever should, and he just wants him to get a good night’s sleep for once. 

He thinks about saying that, but that runs the risk of an eye roll, so instead he just kisses him. Long, and sweet, not removing his lips even with Levi mumbles for him to stop being so mushy. From that point on, he kisses him every time he tries to stand or talks or does anything defiant of healing at all until eventually the Frenchman’s lips are red and so are his ears and he’s ready to kick his lover in the face with his all but shattered legs. 

"Go to sleep," Erwin hums to his fuming chickadee. 

"Go to hell."

"Love you, too."

But eventually, the agitated patient sleeps. Erwin’s sure it won’t be for long, but it’s something. Levi’s a different person when he’s asleep, and it’s honestly the only time he notices how small he really is. When his muscles are pulled tight and taut he looks like a child, round cheeks not pulled by a frown. He’s exhausted, Erwin knows, yet he still fronts the strongest face he’s ever seen. He’ll never know why because Levi will never tell, so he can only do his best to remind the shorter man to breathe as all humans do.

Someday, he promises without a word, he’ll build a nest for Levi to come and go as he pleases — no leashes, no restraints like he enforces now, and he will love him in a world that no longer needs them until the end of his life.


End file.
